The Landmark Theatre, like many other businesses, has suffered great loses due to the coronavirus pandemic. But now you can help, and get a piece of history while you do.
After being used for 60 years, hundreds of letters lay on the theatre floor.
“They look like they are big heavy metal but it’s pretty light aluminum,” said Landmark Theatre Executive Director Mike Intaglietta.
And the original seats from 1928 will soon be replaced by newer, modern, and more comfortable chairs.
“These seats have been here for 92 years, they’ve been reupholstered once,” said Intaglietta
They’re items that will likely be distributed in houses across Central New York after being sold off.
“They’ve seen a lot of history and we’re excited to be able to share that with people who have either celebrated a milestone here or seen an important show, or just want to support the landmark,” said Intaglietta.
It’s part of the Landmark Theatre’s fundraiser called “Be a light while we’re dark.”
For months the theatre has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the spring and fall shows have been canceled.
“It’s been rough. We are one of those rare nonprofits where the majority of our income comes from earned revenue. We put on shows, people come to the shows, we’re very appreciative,” said Intaglietta
It’s caused the theatre to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.
However it hasn’t stopped the $2 million renovations to the marquee and seating.
It’s a project that was funded by state grants.
“It’s a unique time for us in that we had these restorations planned, on the one side we weren’t planning on doing shows in the summer either, so the impact on our budget is minimal but the pandemic has created other obstacles to getting the projects done in the timeline we originally had envisioned,” said Intaglietta.
And if you don’t want to bring home a piece of the theatre, you can make your mark on it.
Before the new marquee is installed, you can have a message written on the steel.
“Since sometime in 30 or 40 years the marquee is going to have to come down again, we thought it would be nice to turn it into a time capsule that hangs above Salina Street,” said Intaglietta.
The chairs, letters, and message space are all being sold online.
- The letters are $70 each
- The message on the steel structure of the marquee is $75
- The chairs are being sold in sets of two or three and do not include the arm rests or aisle decorations
- The sets range from $450-$675